The Silent Partners
The Silent Partners is the fifteenth episode of Season 4 and the overall fifty-fourth episode of The Venture Bros. Plot The episode begins with Billy Quizboy walking through a hospital, when he is stopped by a fellow physician. It is shown that he has developed rather remarkable skills as a surgeon under the guise of "Dr. Phil Donahue", but is told that Johns Hopkins University doesn't have his credentials on file. Nervously covering his mistake, Billy states the he misheard; he did not go to Johns Hopkins but rather Stanford, where he studied under a Dr. John Hopkinsburg. Realizing he is in trouble of getting caught he quickly runs into a patient's room, where he witnesses three suited men stealing the heart of an ailing King Gorilla and disappearing through the floor; the final one appears to recognize Billy, as he waves and smiles before he vanishes. In the next scene Billy is seen talking with Pete White, frantically saying they must give back all the money they received. This upsets Pete, who purchased lots of interesting and unusual items including RoboBo, a robot "man servant" with the appearance of Bo Duke. Billy says that he must give everything back because the money he received came from vampires and he fears reprisal. As they argue, the three men arrive outside their trailer. Billy goes out to confront them, and suddenly vanishes. Pete White then goes to Sphinx and attempts to pay them to rescue Billy, they refuse (even after being reminded of how the OSI used Billy previously to infiltrate the Guild of Calamitous Intent and spy on Phantom Limb) until they notice that the $50,000 check Pete is trying to pay them with belongs to The Investors, a group that apparently has killed everyone they've "helped" before and Sphinx finally sees this as a key to go after them. Billy awakens to find Monstroso and The Investors standing over him. After a brief conversation it is revealed that Monstroso has also accepted The Investors' help for a proposal he made that happened to involve Billy. Before leaving, Monstroso says that the next day he will receive the true gift of immortality. Sphinx is shown investigating the trailer; they find that the soil near the trailer contains salt from the mid-Atlantic and go out to acquire a boat. Before they leave they drop White off at the Venture compound, where he is locked in the panic room with Srgt. Hatred, who was put there for his own protection (Hatred can even be seen going to sleep next to him later while holding a combat shotgun). The two inhabit the Venture Compound's panic room, where Hatred torments White with disgusting foot problems and tear-filled love songs to Princess Tinyfeet. They try to visit Jonas Venture Jr. on Spider Skull Island to request use of the X-2, but he is unavailable and parts for the ship were taken for use in the construction of Gargantua 2. The Captain, however, says he would help provide a ship if he can come along. Back at the location of The Investors, Monstroso and Billy appear to be bonding, enjoying their time before the agreement can proceed. When asked what more he would like to do, Billy mentions that he is still a virgin. While Sphinx is tracking Billy's location on a makeshift pirate ship, it is revealed that the check from General Consolidated Insurance is connected with the Guild of Calamitous Intent and Monstroso. Monstroso is seen signing papers apparently ready to fulfill his end of the contract with The Investors, while at the same time Billy is seduced and played with by women claiming to be vampires, still under the assumption the deal involves turning him and Monstroso into vampires. Back in the panic room, Hatred confronts Pete about how he neglects Billy in favor of Rusty Venture because of Billy's lack of fame. This is based on the fact that White does not claim Billy as his best friend despite doing so much together and living under the same roof. Brock and Shore Leave arrive at Billy's location, a gigantic catamaran-hulled motor yacht, and infiltrate it to find and kill The Investors and Monstroso. Finally, the true nature of The Investors and their deal made with Billy and Monstroso is revealed: Monstroso is dying of heart failure and requires a transplant, namely the heart taken from King Gorilla by an agreement he made with The Investors to rescind his life sentence Billy Quizboy was chosen because of his skills, and The Investors would return the favor by forging documents signed by Billy to "officially" give him credentials to be legally recognized as a doctor. Monstroso explains the women Billy slept with were merely prostitutes roleplaying as vampires and the immortality he promised wasn't a result of becoming a vampire, but from his recognized fame as a great surgeon. Billy begins the surgery at the same time Brock and Shore Leave begin their assault. They come face to face with The Investors, but the battle is short lived as they disappear as quickly as they arrive. Brock enters the room where Billy is performing surgery and tries to convince Billy that Pete White cares for him, and also to stop the procedure (and kill Monstroso) because of the crimes he committed. Billy cannot do so, claiming the Oath prevents him from doing so and he must ensure his patient's survival. Brock agrees and allows Billy to continue. In the post-credits scene, Monstroso appears to be recovering from his surgery, although he appears to be unaware that he is no longer on his boat but actually at the Sphinx headquarters on the Venture compound. Brock then asks if Monstroso is well enough to be killed. Episode Cast * [[wikipedia:Patrick_Warburton|'Patrick Warburton']]: Brock Samson * [[Doc Hammer|'Doc Hammer']]: Billy Quizboy, Shore Leave * [[Chris McCulloch|'Chris McCulloch']]: Monstroso, Hunter Gathers, Pirate Captain, Sgt. Hatred, Pete White, King Gorilla, Sky Pilot, Dr. Odinson First Appearances * Dr. Odinson * RoboBo Connections to Other Episodes [[Mid-Life Chrysalis|''Mid-Life Chrysalis]] * At the beginning of the episode ''Pete White is listening to the song "Revv Me Up" which was last played during Brock's training montage in the episode ''Mid-Life Chrysalis''. [[Handsome Ransom|''Handsome Ransom]] * This episode reveals where Billy and White got their investment money, previously mentioned in [[Handsome Ransom|''Handsome Ransom]]. [[The Diving Bell Vs. The Butter-glider|''The Diving Bell Vs. The Butter-Glider]] *Billy is at the same hospital, St. Sebastian's Medical Center, from [[The Diving Bell Vs. The Butter-glider|''The Diving Bell Vs. The Butter-Glider]]. *The Conjecture-Cycles were first seen in ''The Diving Bell Vs. The Butter-Glider''. [[Any Which Way But Zeus|''Any Which Way But Zeus]] *Shore Leave implies that Pete White has homosexual feelings for Billy and that they're not "just friends". In [[Any Which Way But Zeus|''Any Which Way But Zeus]], he seemed to be implying the same thing when he chastised him for not being "out and proud". Cultural References ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992) *The scene with the three prostitutes references a similar scene in the Francis Ford Coppola film ''Bram Stoker's Dracula''. [[wikipedia:Buffy the Vampire Slayer|'Buffy the Vampire Slayer']]' (1997-2003)' * When White says "I have that Malfoy/Spike thing", "Spike" is a reference to a blond vampire of that name from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series. [[wikipedia:Capital punishment in the United States|'Capital punishment']] * The post-credits scene where Brock asks Billy if Monstroso "is well enough to kill him yet" is a reference to the biophysical health standards U.S. convicts awaiting execution on death row must clear before they are deemed healthy enough to kill. [[wikipedia:Degrassi: The Next Generation|'Degrassi: The Next Generation']]' (2001-2015)' * The Pirate Ship is named after Manuela "Manny" Santos from Degrassi: The Next Generation. [[wikipedia:Dixie (song)|''Dixie]] * RoboBo plays an instrumental horn version of the nineteenth century American Southern folk song [[wikipedia:Dixie (song)|''Dixie]].'' ''[[wikipedia:Harry Potter|'Harry Potter']] * When White says "I have that Malfoy/Spike thing", "Malfoy" is a reference to the white-blond Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series. [[wikipedia:Johns Hopkins University|'Johns Hopkins University']] * In order to work at St. Sebastian's Medical Center Billy Quizboy claimed to have attended medical school at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University. [[wikipedia:Phil Donahue|'Phil Donahue']] * Billy Quizboy illegally works at St. Sebastian's Medical Center as a surgeon under the pseudonym "Dr. Phil Donahue". Phil Donahue was the host of the popular daytime talk show The Phil Donahue Show from 1970 to 1996. [[wikipedia:The Dukes of Hazzard|'The Dukes of Hazzard']]' (1979-1985)' *RoboBo is a robotic version of Bo Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard. Production Notes * One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) has a "nickname" inserted into his credits. The nickname is an unusual line or word from the preceding episode. For The Silent Partners the credit reads Kimson "Robo-Bo" Albert. Category:Episodes Category:The Venture Bros. episodes Category:2010 television episodes Category:Season 4